A Heart's Redemption
by Chaotic-Tarte
Summary: In his search for Riku, Sora is dropped on a strange world.He is taken in by a beautiful stranger but can Sora give up on Riku? Can Riku escape from Kingdom Hearts without forfeiting his soul? Please read and review.
1. Prologue

Disclamer: Sadly, I do not own any part of Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Donald and Goofy would both die of drug overdoses (is it as clear to you as it is to me?), Riku would stop dropping hints about his sexual preferances and just admit he's gay, and Cloud and Leon would go around shirtless. Yummy ^^......Righty then, on to the story and don't forget to review!  
  
~*~*~*~*~ ~Chapter 1: Prologue~  
  
Darkness. For four years that's all there's been. Complete and utter darkness. Not the kind of darkness you feel when you turn off the light or shut the door to the darkened closet. This is full, deep, consuming darkness. Infact the dark is blinding. I suppose that sounds strange to one who's never felt it. But if you open your eyes here nothing changes. After a while your mind doesn't even register you're opening your eyes. And so it blinds you; slowly and dementedly so that you don't even realize it. So I wear a blindfold to keep my sight from being taken from me. Taken. So many things I've lost to the Dark. My life, my friends, him...and worst of all I know it's my fault. I know that if I hadn't been such an egotistical fool I might have noticed the Dark eating away at my heart. It tears at me every time I wake up and wish I was still in a nightmare;lost in sleep, my only refuge.  
  
But it's done. I can only try to find my way back to the Light and keep my frail hope tucked away in my soul. Sora. That stupid laugh of his. Replaying in my mind, reminding me of what an idiot I was. Oh how I miss it. I miss him. He's all that's keeping me going now. The hope that I can somehow make it back and yell at him, tell him how I hate him for being right, cry on him and tell him how much I'm sorry and that I was wrong. That I was wrong. Heh. It's funny what four years of living in the Dark can do to a guy's pride.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sora brushed a strand of sweat-matted hair off his forhead and squinted up at the sun.  
"Man, is it hot. How long have we been walking?" He glanced over at his two companions. The first looked exhausted, but somehow still upbeat. The second was shedding sweat-soaked feathers as he walked and cursing, probably the ship, under his breath.  
"Hey Donald. How long have we been walking?"  
"I don't know. I don't even know what part of this craphole of a world we're on. The gummy ship broke down at least three hours ago on this piece of hell and the man at the post said it was only an hours walk to the nearest town. And here we are."  
"Well I don't think we can walk much longer without some food. I'm starving."  
"Yeah, I could use some grub too Donald."  
"We'll stop and rest at the next bunch of rocks. They should give us some shelter from the sun."  
"Hn. Not much more than we're getting now" grumbled Donald.  
  
As they continued to walk Sora let his mind wander to Riku and the events of four years ago. He could still see the fear and determination in Riku's eyes as the door closed and locked him inside Kingdom Hearts. Those bright aquamarine eyes. Usually so full of pride suddenly filled with fear and...something else. He still couldn't figure out what it was that those eyes held.  
//"Don't give up! Come on Sora! Together, we can do it!"//  
//"Do it now! they're coming!// He could see Riku's last unspoken plea as the door to Kingdom Hearts slammed shut. 'I will find him. I will.'  
  
Sora snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Donald's irritated voice.  
"Sora! Sora stop daydreaming we've found a spot to rest."  
"Oh. Okay." He sat down under the outcropping of rocks and pulled out a couple of sandwiches and some water from his bag. He then proceeded to split it between the three of them. As they ate in silence Sora started taking note of their surroundings. It was by far the largest of the rock piles they'd stumbled across so far and appeared to be of some sort of red stone. His eyes travelled along the swirled patterns in the rock and caught something shiny. 'What's that? It looks like some sort of silvery disk.' He touched it and the 'disk' sank into the stone.  
"Sora what are you looking aaaaah!" Almost immediatly a blinding light burst from the indentation and spread in intricate patterns across the rock. The surface of the rock that they were leaning against slid to the side and they tumbled backwards into the opening.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
'I've heard so many rumors about a door to the Light during the time I've been here I'm surprised I even pay attention to them any more. This one probably won't hold any more truth than the others have.' Riku walked with a slow fluid grace towards the Rotunda. He felt the familiar feel of adrenaline course through his veins as the anticipation of possible freedom grew in his mind. Inspite of his excitment, 'probably over nothing' he reminded himself, he continued to keep a slow, steady pace.  
  
The Rotunda is a round open area in the center of Kingdom Hearts, said to be a breeding ground for the Heartless.' But here everywhere is a breeding ground so I don't see that much more of a risk here than any other place.' As he entered the Rotunda he could feel the oppressive darkness surround him. 'Hn. I can feel them coming.' He'd fought the Heartless many times before and it still gave him chills when they aproached. Before he'd sought to use the darkness for his own purposes but now he just hates it. He loathes the Dark with his very being. Riku stopped at the center of the Rotunda and drew his two Keyblades.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Author's Note: Hey I hope you guys liked chapter one. I'm not entirely sure where this things going, but I have a pretty good idea. PLEASE REVIEW. Im open to criticism. After all, everyone is entitled to there own opinion (including me). So don't go ballistic on me if I violated some unspoken KH rule that I was unaware of. Do however let me know if I have any spelling errors or anything like that. I know it bothers me when I read a fic and the author has a ton of grammar errors. But maybe I'm just a freaky perfectionist. Also if you have any ideas on how you would like the story to go I will gladly consider them. If any of you review then I will post the next chapter. If not then you won't see jack! Mwahahah! So review! I command you! 


	2. Clear Eyes

Disclamer: Sadly, I do not own any part of Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Donald and Goofy would both die of drug overdoses (is it as clear to you as it is to me?), Riku would stop dropping hints about his sexual preferances and just admit he's gay, and Cloud and Leon would go around shirtless. Yummy ^^......Righty then, on to the story and don't forget to review!  
  
~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 2: Clear Eyes  
  
Sora tumbled down the rough shaft. His skin scraped on the rock as he slid down the shoot. Time seemed to slow down as all he could think about was what would happen when he stopped falling. It abbrubtly started again when the ground slammed into him. The impact sent waves of pain through his body. Red flared in front of Sora's eyelids and faded to black as he slowly lapsed out of consciousness.  
  


* * *

  
Clear eyes examined the tattered heap before them. Blood contrasted dramaticly with Sora's now pale complexion and stained his cloths as the youth gathered Sora into his arms. He ordered two of his servants to follow him with the other two immediatly. He placed Sora in front of him on his horse and raced towards the manor.  
  


* * *

  
He straightened, silver strands clinging to his shoulders, and wiped the blood off his hands. Keyblades hanging from his belt, he continued towards the far side of the Rotunda . He stopped. Something was sucking the stale air towards it, seemingly drawing out what little warmth there was in the area. He couldn't sense a presence like he usually could with heartless...but something was there.  
  
"Show yourself." Deep cold churned around him and a Shade emerged from the dark. 'What is that?' A tall, dark form advanced towards Riku. Sickly blue veins glowed under what appeared to be skin. The Shade gazed at him with cold glittering eyes. Riku suppressed the urge to run.  
  
"Ah, the keyblade master. It certainly took you long enough to get here." Riku narrowed his eyes at the Shade.  
  
"You knew I was coming?"  
  
"I knew you would be searching for the door to the light, although I would have expected one who weilds a keyblade to have found it much sooner." Riku felt his heart leap.' The rumors were true this time, I finally found it. Nothing will stand in my way this time.'  
"Move." The shade let out a low shudder which Riku assumed was supposed to be a laugh. 'Great, I probably have to fight it. Its always me.'  
"You didn't think I would just let you walk right through the Door to the Light, did you?"  
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to waste any energy on slaying your sorry ass. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up."  
"Go ahead. Try."  
In one swift motion Riku drew Oblivion and slashed the Shade diagonally, then turned and stabbed with Oathkeeper. His eyes widened as the shade let out another laugh. 'What the hell?! '  
"I am not a Heartless. You can't harm me."  
"Then what are you?"  
"What I am is insignificant. What is of importance, is what you will sacrifice." Riku stood aghast. 'Sacrifice?! What could I possibly have left to sacrifice?! What hasn't been torn from me?' Riku spoke slowly and with cold malice in his voice.  
"What do you mean?" The Shade sneered at him.  
"You really are stupid. It's no wonder that Sora is on the outside while you are trapped inside Kingdom Hearts." Riku shook with anger.'It had no right.'  
"Don't you ever talk about Sora!" He lunged at the Shade, determined to cause it as much pain as he possibly could. To make it feel even a small part of the suffering that he had been forced to endure.There was no reason left now. Only all the hate and resentment that Riku had bottled up inside over the last four years. He wanted to hear it scream ; to see its blood run off his hands. He wanted it dead.  
  
The Shade's last comment had had the desired effect.The Shade laughed as the slashes and stabs went straight through it until Riku was leaning on Oblivion for support. How it enjoyed watching this boy suffer. Maybe it could play with him a little longer. Watch as the boy sunk deeper into despair until there was only an empty shell of what was.Yes, that would be fun.  
  
"Now, now. There's no need to get upset. What I mean is simply this: If you want to get through the Door to the Light you must give up part of yourself."  
"I'm not giving you anything." Riku strode towards the door and reached for the handles.  
"As you wish." The Shade plunged its clawed hand into Riku's heart. Riku gasped and sank to his knees. He couldnt breath. He tried desperatly to fill his lungs with air as he fought the darkness encroaching upon his mind. Slowly everything faded until the only thing left was the Shades laughter. And then that was gone too.  
  


* * *

  
The clear-eyed youth leaned over the boy lying on the bed. He wrung out a wet cloth and cleaned the dried blood from the boy's face. His fingers brushed over the boy's cheek.'He's definitely pretty.' He quickly backed away as he heard the boy stir. Sora groaned as he attempted to get his vision to clear.  
"Owww."  
  
"Take it easy.You were pretty beat up when I found you." Sora ,startled, quickly sat up in bed. He immediatly regretted his decision when the room started to spin. "Oww!" He sunk back into the soft pillows. Standing over him was a extremely attractive boy. Deep blue hair framed the most beautiful pair of eyes Sora had ever seen...save one. Clear gray eyes gazed down at him with a thoughtful look.  
  
" Is there anything I can get you?"  
  
"Not unless you have something to make the room stop spinning." The boy smiled.  
  
"I'm Shinsei. I found you on the ground while in to---" Sora sprang up in bed again.  
  
"Donald and Goofy! Where are they? Are they okay?"  
  
"I assumed they were your companions and had them brought here as well. They were in worse shape than you, but they're sleeping now." Sora gave a relieved sigh.  
  
"...I'm Sora."  
  


* * *

  
Author's Note: Well? How'd you like the second chapter? WHAT?! *is teary- eyed* You didn't like it? It was horrible?! Ok. So I can be a little overdramatic. But really, let me know what you think. Also I made Shinsei especially for my story. He is my own little bish.^^ Chaotic_Tarte: *Glomps Shinsei* Shinsei: *sweatdrops*  
Anyway you will be seeing more of him, much more. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten beloved Riku. Oh, and I think I got the names of Riku's two keyblades right. As far as I can tell from the KH2 pics I've looked at his two keyblades are Oathkeeper and Oblivion. If I'm wrong, let me know.  
I did a screwy thing while I was trying to update the Prologue, so the single review that I got (Thankies for the constructive critisism!) was erased! Chaotic_Tarte*Sobs and throws myself onto Shinsei* Shinsei: *Pats my back ackwardly* I was ecstatic when I saw I had a review. You have no idea. So! Please review if you liked what you read, and if you didn't like what you read review anyway. I would like to know what I can improve on. So review! Chaotic_Tarte: *Throws Shinsei over my shoulder and heads home* Shinsei: *Mouths "help me"* 


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